If only Tebbit was running the Tory Party...

... not only would they have my vote, they'd probably be a shoe-in right now. Compared to the current pygmy war party in charge of the tories, Norman Tebbit seems like some kind of Herculean warrior. His blogs over at the Telegraph, such as this one, are excellent reading.

He has what Cameron lacks: principles which people can relate to. Even if you don't agree with them, at least you know what they are.

Whereas Cameron keeps pumping out the spin from the Tony Blair handbook:

" Mr Cameron said he got a lot of "advice" from his own side and added: "Some say 'Go back to what you might call the Conservative 'comfort zone' and just bang out the old tunes.'

Others say: 'Look, Labour are in meltdown so just play it safe and you'll win by default.'

"Well I can tell you, I have made my choice – and it's for us to be both modern and radical, not to go back to the old ways and not to play it safe."

This is a cunning blend of meaningless and stupidity. Even though I don't believe he rejected the 'playing it safe' stratagem, as he's been assiduous in not promising anything and being almost wholly policy-free, the major selling point of the tories is that they are conservative, which means they do stick to the old ways - old-fashioned common sense. This has great appeal, especially in uncertain times such as now. Instead of this, Cameron thinks his special 'vision of the anointed' will inspire the sheep into the voting fold. For this reason, he has picked many a fight with his own party, thinking that by abusing his captive vote, he will win over the airhead floaters he needs to get into number 10.

In order to survive, any party needs to renew itself and move with the times, and the question is 'what should be preserved and what should be jettisoned?' It seems to me the only thing Cameron wanted to keep was the self-discipline of the grassroots to turn out and vote when required, but he was too wary of them to allow them any kind of say in what the new party would stand for. Too many of them hold beliefs which run contrary to the slick, modernising narrative Dave wants to spin, and he didn't have the wit to channel these beliefs in a positive way, so he merely cut out the grassroots' voice.

The only principle Cameron is acting upon is 'do whatever you need to do to win'. Fair enough, this is politics, but in order to do this in a general election, you need to convince people that they are part of 'us', that they will be winning too. If victory is reserved for the small coterie around Cameron, it really makes no difference to anyone else (like a coup d'etat, as opposed to a popular revolution). Captain Dave's ship may limp into port, but if all the cargo has been lost overboard, and most of the crew were put off at Tangiers, there won't be many celebrating on the quayside. Now the polls are showing a nasty storm is blowing up between here and the harbour, and poor old Dave may regret his decision to lighten the load.